Wildlife

The Kulluk on New Year's Day after it ran aground on an uninhabited Alaskan island. (Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis)

Shell’s numerous Arctic drilling blunders have spurred the government to launch an urgent review that could hinder—or even halt—the company’s continuing efforts to open up waters off of Alaska’s coast to oil exploration.

Artwork: Mark Hobson

Seabirds befouled with black ooze are potent symbols of the havoc oil spills can wreak on marine and coastal ecosystems, but the ebony plumage of the bird in Mark Hobson’s “Pelagic Cormorants: Diving for Gobies” is entirely natural. Nevertheless, viewed in the context of the Art for an Oil-free Coast exhibit now touring British Columbia, the painting’s message is unequivocal: wildlife and petroleum products don’t mix.

A Northern mockingbird at the Christmas Bird Count in Central Park. (Photo by Debra Kriensky)

On Sunday I went to Central Park for my first Christmas Bird Count (this year marks the 113th year of Audubon’s nationwide survey). It was a dark morning with pinpricks of rain, and birders spread out around the park into seven sectors, ready to look among bare branches for signs of life and to listen for characteristic calls.

Photo: nickzeff/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Every week we post a funny animal photo that's begging for a caption. Join in the fun and add your suggestion in the Comments section (click "Read more"). You’ve got til 11:59 pm (Eastern time) on Sunday. On Monday we'll choose our three favorite captions and list them under the image.

In each issue of Audubon, the editors review a mix of narrative nonfiction titles, as well as art books and children’s books about nature. For ease, we’ve compiled the dozens of fantastic works we reviewed in 2012 in one place, and we’ve added a few additional books that we covered exclusively online.

Photo by Andrea Pokrzywinski / CC BY 2.0

AquaBounty, the company behind a fast-growing genetically engineered salmon, told the Associated Press last week that it will run out of money by January if it cannot raise more funds.

Check the 1st and the 12th holes.

That was the advice we received to locate the burrowing owls, some of the few remaining on Aruba. So at 6:30 a.m. on our final morning in the Caribbean, we took at $17 taxi ride to a golf course to look for birds. As promised, there on the 1st hole, next to the sand trap, stood two burrowing owls in plain sight. We spotted another three at the 12th hole, and for good measure, a sixth met us at hole 14.

After several days on this island slightly larger than Washington, D.C., we learned that’s just what birding is like here. Once you know where to look, the birds are easily spotted. And what cool species, too.

With Christmas just around the corner, and Hanukah underway, many of us are scrambling to buy presents for our loved ones. If there’s someone in your life who is passionate about wildlife or conservation, consider a symbolic adoption. Whether you’re looking for a gift for a birder, ocean lover, or outdoors enthusiast, here are options for nearly every eco interest.

“Take only photos and leave only footprints,” may become the new credo in Botswana, a premier safari destination that has also been popular among big game hunters. The Texas-sized nation has announced plans to ban trophy hunting in public areas amid concerns about sharply declining wildlife populations. “The shooting of wild game for sport and trophies is no longer compatible with our commitment to preserve local fauna,” said Botswana’s environment ministry in a statement. 

Photo: Dan Zen/CC BY 2.0

UPDATE: We've narrowed down the entries to these three. Now vote for your favorite!

Every week we post a funny animal photo that's begging for a caption. Join in the fun and add your suggestion in the Comments section (click "Read more"). You’ve got til 11:59 pm (Eastern time) on Sunday. On Monday we'll choose our three favorite captions and list them under the image.